No, the JUDGE was NOT the problem, in fact the judge gave her a deferred sentence. The PROSECUTOR is the one who went after her, charging her with 1st Degree Murder, thus getting her to cop a plea to avoid the risk of a decade or more in prison. If the prosecutor believed her rape story, he should have used his prosecutorial discretion and offered her a diversion program.
Also, there is a lot more to the story. It wasn't a self-defense killing, she stabbed him while he slept and her defense was far from rock solid. The link below gives a lot more detail
Des Moines teen Pieper Lewis, who killed alleged rapist, gets probation, deferred judgment
More poor journalism and a false headline. As you point out, it wasn’t the judge’s fault; he was just following the law.
Right. The Iowa law does not require you to pay $150,000 automatically if you kill another person. That penalty only applies if you are convicted of a felony that resulted in the death of another person. So it that sense, the law is fine.
The real issue here is why she pled guilty, and the exact circumstances of what happened. Without digging further into the case or evidence, it's pretty tough to have an informed opinion just based on conclusory press reports.